Junior national hockey in Chennai from March 24

The fourth edition of the Junior National Hockey Championship will be played at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium and the YMCA Nandanam Hockey Stadium here from March 24.

The 35 teams participating have been divided into two divisions -- A and B. While Division A will have 16 teams, Division B comprise 19. Each division is further divided into four pools consisting of four teams each in Division A. In Division B, there will be five teams each in Pool A, B and C and four in Pool D.

Three new teams are taking part in this event: Steel Plants Sports Board (SPSB), Gangpur-Odisha and Vidarbha.

Division B will be held March 24-31 while Division A will be played from March 29 to April 6. The inaugural match will be played between Mizoram and SPSB.

Defending champions Punjab will open their campaign against Chandigarh March 29 in Division A. Last year's runner-up Odisha will take on Karnataka in its first match and are placed in the Pool B of Division A.

"The fourth season of the junior men's national championship is all set to commence and hockey fans will continue witnessing a long season of hockey in India. These back-to-back tournaments will help Hockey India (HI) to identify budding talent who are then groomed for the international arena," HI chief executive Elena Norman said.